Bayern ruthlessly blow Magdeburg away as Pokal last-16 awaits
| Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images. |
Bayern Munich sealed their progression to the last-16 of the DFB-Pokal this evening with a comfortable 6-1 triumph over 1.FC Magdeburg this evening. Bulinews.com reported live from the Allianz Arena, München, where after a testing first-half, the Bavarian giants’ quality proved too much for the spirited 2.Bundesliga underdog.
Amid a cacophony of noise from both sides’ as the players graced the pitch, it didn’t take long for the action on the pitch to follow suit. Anselmo Garcia MacNulty managed to keep Serge Gnabry at bay, but Ismael Saibari’s curling effort which landed on the roof of the net proved to be an early warning sign.
Magdeburg’s walls were breached inside 10 minutes as Lennart Karl found space to turn and send Saibari through on goal. The Moroccan unselfishly played it across the box to check Dominik Reimann, leaving Michael Olise with a tap-in. At this point, most sides would cave under the red wave of pressure. Magdeburg did otherwise.
Konrad Laimer’s loss of possession proved costly, giving Felipe Chavez time to find Mateusz Zukowski. The 24-year-old took on Jonathan Tah before leaving Jonas Urbig rooted to the spot. Parity, however, would ultimately last all of six minutes. Olise returned the favour to Saibari on the right who applied a delicate chip over Reimann.
Bayern looked to be in complete control, evidenced by Tom Bischof firing wide. Still, the first half would end dramatically, culminating with Baris Atik’s snapshot coming off the post. The introduction of Alphonso Davies gave Bayern breathing space six minutes after the break when the Canadian earned his side a penalty.
Nadjombe’s pull on the jersey was enough to give Olise duties, from which he delivered an ice-cool Panenka for a 3-1 scoreline. Aaron Danks’ side, in Kompany’s absence, turned on the style thereafter with patterns of intricate passing. Karl was close to joining in on the fun, but Reimann produced a fine save to keep Magdeburg alive.
Keeping one eye towards Satruday’s top-of-the-table clash with Borussia Dortmund, Olise and Laimer were given an extra rest. Aleksander Pavlovic and Sacha Boey took over. The result was put beyond doubt with 20 minutes remaining – Karl found room to dink the ball to the back post and Davies bundled in a fourth.
Further gloss was added to the scoreboard when Nathaniel Brown picked out the bottom-right corner. Perhaps the result reflected cruelly on a brave Magdeburg side, but Bayern rarely show mercy. David Santos even found time to whip in a sixth to cruise into the last-16, while immediate focus turns to Saturday's visit of BVB.
